春天來了,Larry和李華計(jì)劃到外面轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn),享受春天的美景。他們會(huì)用到兩個(gè)常用語:to catch something和open minded。
Larry: What wonderful spring weather! We should get out and enjoy it, Lihua.
LH: 沒錯(cuò),咱們踏春去!
Larry: There are a lot of music festivals around town these days. Would you be interested in catching an outdoor show somewhere?
LH: Catch a show? "Catch"不是捕捉的意思嗎? 怎么可能捕捉一個(gè)show呢?
Larry: Not that kind of catch, Lihua. Here, the word "catch" means to go to attend something, like a show.
LH: 哦,catch在這里不是“捕捉”,而是“參加某項(xiàng)活動(dòng)”的意思。 To catch a show就是去看一場表演。
Larry: That's right! We could catch a rock concert.
LH: 啊?搖滾演唱會(huì)?太吵了! Let's catch a classical music performance instead. 我們?nèi)バ蕾p一場古典音樂。
Larry: Classical music? With music that boring and weather this nice, I'd surely fall asleep!
LH: 聽古典樂你會(huì)睡覺?真是沒有藝術(shù)細(xì)胞! 好了,你還有什么主意?
Larry: Well, we could always go catch a movie. There's a new action film that just came out.
LH: Catch a movie? 看電影?可那是在室內(nèi)啊,可惜了這么好的天氣!
Larry: That's OK. We can just enjoy the lovely weather - as we walk to the movie theater.
LH: 可我不是很想看電影....Wait! I know! 我們?nèi)ミ\(yùn)動(dòng)運(yùn)動(dòng)吧,I feel like catching a game of tennis. 去打網(wǎng)球吧!
Larry: Well, you can't "catch" a game of tennis if you are playing it. If you are watching other people play, however, then you can say you are "catching" the game.
LH: 哦,to catch something是強(qiáng)調(diào)被動(dòng)地,不需要費(fèi)力就可以享受的那種參與。如果自己揮汗如雨地去打網(wǎng)球,就不能用catch, 可如果自己不用動(dòng),輕松地坐在一邊看網(wǎng)球賽,就可以說catch a game of tennis 了! 這樣吧 Larry, 咱們?nèi)ゲ┪镳^看藝術(shù)展,怎么樣?
Larry: Ah, I guess we could go to the museum...
LH: 你好像不太情愿啊!
Larry: Well, it's just that I had my mind set on going to that rock concert for awhile now.
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LH: 真不明白,那么吵鬧的搖滾樂,有什么好聽的。
Larry: Come on, Lihua. I think you should be more open-minded when it comes to music.
LH: Open-minded? 什么意思?
Larry: To be open-minded means to be open to new ideas or experiences.
LH: I get it. To be open minded就是寬容,思想開放的意思。這么說起來,Larry, 你就不是個(gè)open-minded,思想開放,勇于嘗試的人。
Larry: No way! I am very open-minded, Lihua. I've done all sorts of crazy things with you that I wouldn't normally do.
LH:比如呢?
Larry: Well, like playing Mahjong with your friends. Even though I had to learn from scratch, I still kept an open mind and tried to have fun.
LH: 哈哈,你打麻將那次還真是出丑呢!
Larry: And I went camping last year with your friends. And even though it was cold and raining the entire time, I was open-minded and tried to enjoy myself.
LH: 好啦,我承認(rèn)你是個(gè)優(yōu)秀的男朋友!
Larry: Of course I am! And I'm not close-minded.
LH: Close-minded? 我知道了,一定是open-minded的反義詞,就是思想保守的。對不對?
Larry: That's right. You shouldn't be so close-minded to this rock concert thing.
LH: 那好,我們來個(gè)妥協(xié)。咱們先去看博物館看藝術(shù)展,然后再去聽搖滾樂,怎么樣?我夠open-minded了吧?
Larry: Great! Let's go!
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語,一個(gè)是to catch something,意思是“觀看觀賞”。另一個(gè)是open-minded,意思是“思想開放的,肯接受新鮮事物的”。